early help for children from 0 to 7
Even if we want to, we can’t spend the whole day eating pancakes – I know, I’ve tried!
There is lots of play, talking and fun we can have around pancakes though – planning, shopping, making, making some more …
So today we have some pancake-themed ideas including a couple of lovely stories to help calm everything down.
There are all kinds of things we love to do outside – walking, jumping, running around. But how often do we walk with our ears?
And sometimes we don’t have time for those things, because we have to get to the shops, or are running to get out of the rain!
There is so much going on to notice and learn from, and it takes no more time than what we were doing anyway.
Who would have thought there was play and learning to find in a cutlery drawer?
First of all, there is curiosity to develop – many children love to have a nose around in a drawer
Then there is classifying, describing shapes, learning to be safe with sharp things, how to wash dishes (that’s a useful skill …)
All by helping you with a boring chore – do it for as long as you or your child is interested
Children love being nosy and taking things out and putting them back, so today’s idea is all about exploring cupboards to learn about different kinds of foods
Depending on your kitchen you may prefer to fill up a box for them to explore safely on the floor or table top – or you may have a ground level cupboard they can access more independently
As they find things, or take them out of the box, chat about what kind of food they are, where it comes from and what we can do with it
You never know, they may end up making the dinner “with” you!
Guessing the sun might be out today – here is a song to celebrate, or to make us feel better if it turns out rainy!
A great one to dance around to this one, and to share with loved ones out and about (following physical distancing guidance of course)
Or you can stay home and have fun drawing or chatting about the weather
Ever just feel like you could lie down and have a snooze?
Today’s song is all about the difference between being quiet and still and bouncing around. This is great fun, and also helps children develop skills to manage their levels of activity and feelings
And a chance to chat and learn about different animals and how they move about. A great one to do out and about with family or friends at a 2 metre distance too
Words, tune and two versions to watch (including one with signing) are on the downloadable sheet
A story and a song today that can take you almost anywhere!
It is about finding out who we are and how we fit in. And about how we can cope when things go wrong, or people are unkind – about not giving up
Or it is about how we change as we grow and learn new things
Or about birds, wildlife and nature
Mainly it is a fun way to enjoy a story or singing a song together, and along the way your child will learn lots about words and sequences too
Even now the lockdown is easing, days at home may still seem long – and it is still tempting to snack away the time!
Today’s play idea is a way to have chats with your child about different kinds of food, and how we need to balance the different types
As you set up a shop together, your child can have a real experience of buying and selling – learning as well about money, shops and even some economics and politics (who says you can make sweets more expensive than fruit – is it fair?!)
You can download the Eatwell Plate here
Today’s idea uses something we all have – our hands!
We use our hands to do lots of things but how often do we stop to think about how handy our hands really are?
Young children are fascinated by their hands and through play they learn to use them in so many different ways.
You can have fun with your child exploring different ways of using hands and they will begin to understand just how important their hands are.
Have a happy handy hands day! And remember to wash them often.
A nice, colourful fruit kebab is refreshing and fun to make with your child, especially during warm weather.
It can sometimes be tricky to get children to taste new fruits and this is a great way of helping them to have a wee try whilst having fun.
At the same time, they will be learning vocabulary about colours, food, about before/after, big/small – and practising finger skills that are great for pre-writing, as well as learning about patterns and sorting
If you don’t have fruit at home right now, then there are some fun online games about food and cooking here
bumps to bairns 